Olympic swimmer champion Dawn Fraser, 77, has appeared on Channel 9’s The Today Show lampooning Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios after his Wimbledon loss.
Fraser, a four time swimming gold medallist, was questioned about Kyrgio’s loss and the ‘tanking’ accusations.
Kyrgios was accused of tanking he made little effort to return serve in the third game of the second set during his 7-5 6-1 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (8-6) loss to Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
Fraser said: “It’s absolutely disgusting. I am so shocked to think that he went out there to play and he tanked. That’s terrible. That’s not a good sportsperson.”
Fraser went on to argue that Kyrgios and Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic should “go back to where their parents came from.”
“They should be setting a better example for the younger generation of this country, a great country of ours.
“If they don’t like it, go back to where their fathers or their parents came from. We don’t need them here in this country if they act like that,” Fraser said.
Kyrgios, who was born in Canberra, is the son of a Greek father and Malaysian mother. Tomic is German-born with a Croatian father and Bosnian mother.
Click here for the interview.
Twitter was not happy about Fraser’s rant:
I love Dawn Fraser, but Kyrgios is not "disgraceful." Yes, he's got a mouth, & needs to be reeled in, but, he's not the first to be animated
— Shane McInnes (@shanemcinnes) July 7, 2015
#dawnfraser u should be setting a better example. How racist !
— Maria Cal (@RiaCal) July 7, 2015
What a racist old bat #DawnFraser
— Strats (@strats_11) July 7, 2015
https://twitter.com/T_XX17/status/618224084413878274
Clearly that was a racist remark from #DawnFraser on @TheTodayShow this morning. She should apologise.
— Chris (@ChrisTamits) July 7, 2015
The today show knew what Dawn Fraser would say, there is no other reason why she would have been asked to speak on the Kyriogs or Tomic .
— Chris Stevens (@TheLadfromAus) July 7, 2015
https://twitter.com/DECKHEAD/status/618227516688351232
https://twitter.com/oknermin/status/618227467128410112
Meanwhile, Dawn Fraser is sending 51% of the Australian population home (or 98%, depending on generational cutoff). https://t.co/dPPJ1suG8P
— John B (@johnb78) July 7, 2015
https://twitter.com/GrogsGamut/status/618226577378181120
I love Dawn Fraser, but Kyrgios is not "disgraceful." Yes, he's got a mouth, & needs to be reeled in, but, he's not the first to be animated
— Shane McInnes (@shanemcinnes) July 7, 2015
Some charming racism from #dawnfaser on @TheTodayShow this morning
— 👽 rebecca ❄ (@becc_) July 7, 2015
https://twitter.com/fergushunter/status/618221003114549248
